Workshop Presentations

• The Controversy Between Trails and Rural Roads, the Case of Nepal
  Neeraj Shah, Jan Roukema, Gyanendra Rajbhandari         
  We’d like to recommend to policymakers to reflect and ask: “Did that infrastructure result in the desired development?” as well as “Development for whom?” Governments do not have an institutional memory provision to answer such questions and most donors don’t extend project support beyond 10 years. How can we continue building infrastructures year in year out without ever posing this question?
• Gravity Goods Ropeway: A Complementary Means of Rural Transportation
  Rabindra Bahadur Singh       
  Nepal’s transport policy is heavily inclined towards road development, as made evident by the proportion of budget allocated for this purpose in each five-year plan. The unilateral pursuit of road construction has almost become synonymous to transportation. Consequently policy makers have ignored cheaper and complementary options like the ropeways. With successful demonstration of the gravity goods ropeway and the generation of exciting impacts on the livelihood of rural community, the technology has been successful in drawing attention of people at various levels.
• Why Should We Preserve Trans-Himalaya Heritage Routes?
  Chandra Shrestha      
  In addition to tourism promotion, advocacy for preserving heritage routes needs to be initiated through engagement at the policy level and campaigning in the mass media. A Nepali version of the “Swiss Federal Law on the Protection of Nature and Cultural Heritage” needs to be promulgated. The law needs to be enforced though by-laws, procedures and practices.
  
• Transport and Diverse Patterns of Rural Mechanisation in South Asia: Opening up the energy and rural development policy debates
  Stephen Biggs and Scott Justice
  Rural transport policy cannot be separated from energy, roads, mechanisation and other national policies and should be seen in an integrated framework. Our review of the diverse patterns of rural mechanisation provides evidence to support such integrated approaches. However to get the actions of less powerful actors, whether they be poorer groups of people in rural areas, less powerful bureaucracies, less powerful donors, etc. to be effective in policy arenas is perhaps the most important challenge today.
• Water Management: A Vital Component for the Sustainability of Rural Roads in Nepal
  Paban Kumar Shrestha and Sharad Manandhar      
  Rural people in Nepal face difficult socio-economic conditions in isolated areas with little or no access to markets and agricultural services, employment opportunities, transportation and communication facilities. Agriculture is the primary occupation of about 81 percent of the population. However, it provides only seasonal employment to the people. Effective planning and implementation of rural road development with proper natural environmental management will be helpful for economic development of rural areas.
• Multisource Financing Model of Collective Action for Rural Infrastructure Initiative: Case of Prahon Pedestrian Trail Bridge
  Yogyakarta, Indonesia
  Arif Wismadi, Sulistiono, Hendra Edi Gunawan, Kustantinah, and Djoko Sulistyo   
  Realizing the limits of the government to build rural infrastructure, many non-governmental institutions have attempted to assist people in rural areas to gain access to proper infrastructures. Their initiative is based on a bottom-up approach, which implies a collective-action among stakeholders. The collective action approach enables rural communities to collect resources to build infrastructures. One of the most important aspects of this approach is related to the management of resources, which comes from various parties and organisations.
• Social Inclusion vs. Efficiency in the Construction of Trail Bridges
  Kanti Singh     
  The purpose of social inclusion is to improve human development in all state functionaries, decision-making processes and services through increased participation of the society members. In order to improve livelihoods and provide equal opportunities to the marginalized people, extra effort is required. Policies have been developed and are in place, which is a step in the right direction. The Interim Constitution and the Three Years Interim Plan of Nepal are milestones that spelled out these polices on paper. Our main focus should be implementation of the policies.
• Public Consultations in the Process of Highway Construction in Bolivia
  Maximo Liberman      
  Broad citizen participation is key to the success of a road-building project. This should be part of the processes of preparation as well as implementation (Rojas Libreros 1996). There are two principal aspects of citizen participation for the social analysis of a project: a) analyse if the affected groups can take advantage of it, and b) design a framework for effective participation.
• Road vs. Hill Environment: the Trend of Road Construction in Nepal
  Hare Ram Shrestha   
  The current trend of ruthless excavation of hill slope for rural road expansion has caused degradation of the hill environment. The cut-and-throw approach to road building has caused huge mass waste and landslides. This practice has continued because policymakers are complacent about the environmental damage caused by road building. Local people accept such practice because they are innocent about its effects and want access to roads.
• Economic Returns of High Investment in Asphalt Road Construction Compared to Low-cost Access Options in an Agrarian Community
  Alem Shumiye           
  It is widely recognised that there are circumstances under which socio-economic benefits are difficult to assess and/or their quantification is not possible, and hence there is a need for better specification and understanding of social benefits for low volume roads as well as methods for measuring them both quantitatively and qualitatively.
  
• Construction of Rural Transport Infrastructure vs. Transport Services
  Padma Bahadur Shahi          
  Rural development remains one of the major challenges of a developing country like Nepal. Construction of rural roads was once considered the main solution for economic development and poverty reduction because it improves access to markets and social facilities. The rural transport scenario now indicates that this approach has not achieved the desired results. Sufficient attention has not been paid to the rural transport services.
• Community Bridge Building Programme:  Process Orientation Ultimately Leads to Success
  Saroj Kumar Upadhyay         
  From the Trail Bridge, it is now time to move towards rural bridges. Rural bridge is something very pertinent in Nepali context for affordability, cost effectiveness and technology.
• The Effects of Transport Barriers on the Forest Coverage Area in the Remote Districts of Nepal
  Bharat Gotame          
  The emerging opportunities for mountain economies are improving physical access, access to improved technology, markets, natural resource management, enabling environment, area-wise focused development approach. Primarily, the people in the mountains have acquired access to the resources but a lack of access to the markets has decelerated the opportunities and their motivation to be enterprising and to broaden their livelihood options.
• Motorized Transport vs. Non-motorized (Traditional) Transport
  Artha Tuladhar
  Motorized transport in the hills and mountains is a double-edged sword. On the one hand it is a progenitor of physical development of the area and an effective tool for the alleviation of poverty. On the other hand it is responsible for a change in the traditional value structures and lifestyles of the people living there and for the alteration of the natural eco-system of the area.
  
• People in the Mountains, for Ecological Balance
  Bharat Maleku           
  In providing transport in mountains different modes of transport like foot trails, cable cars, air transport and road can complement one another efficiently and productively. Technology that can minimize adverse impact on environment has to be adopted. This can be achieved through public and private partnership and an enabling policy environment.

Transport in Mountains
An International Workshop
21-27 November 2010
Kathmandu,
Nepal

 

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International Workshop on Transport in Mountains,
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